Bloom Legend Passes

Picture what life was like in the 40’s: World War II, factories making military equipment, industrial expansion, Africa –Americans migrating from the South in search of a better life. Before this decade, a baby was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi on April 25, 1930 by the name of Alzenia Hamilton. By the age of 12, her family moved to Chicago Heights and “Lynn”, as she was called, attended Bloom High School in the Class of 1947, a school that was integrated and progressive. This was the perfect school for Lynn Hamilton to thrive in.

Little did anyone know, Ms. Hamilton would break through barriers and set the way for women, actor roles and African Americans. Lynn participated in Bloom’s drama club but actually never got on stage because “lack of roles for a black girl”, said Lynn.

She attended the Goodman Theatre which was a school affiliated with the Art Institute in Chicago. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating, she faced more conflict with role barriers which caused her to play maids in her first three choices. In her first year, they even put her in white-face make-up just to get her on stage, but it worked!

She embarked on a whirlwind stage career. She won parts on Broadway and worked with the prestigious New York Shakespeare Festival for three years. Her debut was in the 1959 play “Only In America” where she was the first cast member to get on stage. This featured a young Alan Alda, performed at the now James Earl Theatre. Her career continued through five decades in which she accomplished a lot of firsts.

By the 60’s, she had joined the Seattle Repertory Theatre, where she met her husband, poet-playwright Frank Jenkins. They moved to Los Angles in 1968. By 1972 she landed the role she is most famous for, Donna Harris, the girlfriend of Red Foxx in his role as Sanford in Sanford and Son. This series from 1972 to 1977 was an immediate success and helped pave the way for other television shows about Black families. In 1973 she played a neighbor, Verdie Foster, in The Walton’s. Lynn was on the first black daytime drama, Generations.

In 1980, Ms. Hamilton did an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. She stated that she liked to be selective in her parts in that she would not play a role she could not find virtue in. She said, “People who appear on television have a responsibility…there has been a real decline in roles for a woman my age – way over 40- to appear in.”

Other shows she played in are Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, Knight Rider, The Golden Girls, Starsky and Hutch, The Practice, Cold Case and in movies such as Lady Sings the Blues, Buck to the Preacher and the Vanishing. She went from playing maids to playing a nurse, a matriarch, a judge. She played alongside other famous actors, such as Diana Ross, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Jeff Bridges, and Keifer Sutherland. She received the Lorraine Hansberry Award in 2016 from the Goodman Theatre that honors African American women who were raised and educated in Chicago and have made an impact on American theater. Lynn was also the recipient of the prestigious NAACP Award, a testament to her outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry.

Lynn’s last credited role was in an interview for a 2003 documentary. Lynn’s husband died in 2014, and Lynn returned to Chicago to be closer to family. She passed away on June 19, 2025, from natural causes.

My husband, Larry McCoy ’71 was planning Bloom’s Centennial Celebrations in 2000 and was getting an airline ticket for her to attend. I can still remember her voice on the phone in her Hollywood style, “Hello Larry darling….”. Thank you, Lynn, for being such a pioneer. Your determination and strive opened a lot of doors for people and changed the way the world was. You are truly a Bloom legend, and we will deeply miss you. Your memory will definitely live on as we continue to watch your works of art. Thank you. “We’re from Bloom Couldn’t be Prouder…